As soon as the alphabet and basic punctuation are mastered, Ainsworth Conversation Piece bridges
the gap between learning to type and learning to write with a computer.
Just typing for the sake of typing is really quite boring. Expressing
ideas quickly and easily is exciting, especially when talking with a computer
for the first time.

Beginning writers
quickly see how to make their thoughts visible. Even experienced authors
sometimes use this program to "discuss" an idea with the computer
and get the creative juices flowing before beginning to write on a particular
topic.

Graduate from
copying to creating

The real payoff for
keyboarding is being able to use computers and word processors as personal
tools. Keyboard mastery is the first step. The Conversation Piece is next. Type anything and a printed reply appears on the screen. After
each sentence is typed, the program continues to answer, creating an individual
conversation that is unique and different every time. The computer program
"knows" literally hundreds of subjects and can carry on a highly
interactive dialogue in most of them. It quickly figures out a person's
likes, dislikes, and favorite topics.

Only the computer
knows

Conversation Piece is intentionally designed to practice and promote
personal communication skills. For this reason, no records are kept of
any conversation with this program. When you exit the program, the computer
"forgets" everything you and it have said and printed on the
screen. All communications are strictly confidential and may, if you wish,
involve any level of personal dialog.

Various sections
of this program are only activated when you suggest or bring up specific
topics. There's no way for you to discover all the possible subjects that
make up the Conversation
Piece data base. If the computer
decides to quote someone, it can select from a large collection of possible
quotations that are also part of the data the program uses.

Enter
Eleanor

When Eleanor Reynolds,
a teacher at one of our Beta test sites, said that students could use
help graduating from our typing program to word processing, we thought
of trying the Ainsworth
Conversation Piece with her class. We installed
the program on her network and introduced it to her students. Within minutes
the room became very quiet, except for the constant clicking of keyboards.
"It's like a magnet," Eleanor said, "the way they are drawn
to it." After a while, individuals in the class began to comment:

"It even likes
football."

"How can it
know so much?"

"It's like
talking to a very wise friend."

"May I take
this program home?"

Cool at last

It was obvious that
we have a popular program, but does it really teach anything? Eleanor
summed it up by saying: "It doesn't matter what they're typing. I
see that they are interested, motivated, and having fun. They're learning
the most important part of keyboarding - expressing themselves."
The students voted unanimously that Conversation
Piece is
even better than our other games and that it should be added to our product
line. It got the ultimate vote from one fan who told us, "This is
really cool."

Son
of ELIZA

The basic idea for
this software comes from a project by Joseph Weizenbaum, Professor of
Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Several years
ago, he created ELIZA, a similar computer program designed to make up
conversations with humans as they typed on a computer terminal.

The computer doesn't
actually understand or know anything. But programs like ELIZA and Conversation
Piece can be convincing.
When a person types something like "My father is very smart."
the program picks out key words like father and smart. It might then answer
by saying: "Tell me more about your family." or "Do you
think of yourself as being a smart person?" We use more tricks than
this, but the general idea is to program the computer to act as "human"
as possible.

Exit dullsville

If you have students
who are beginning to get a little bored with the same old typing exercises,
you might give Conversation
Piece a chance. You won't find a better way to help people use keyboards to
communicate their thoughts and ideas, even if they are having fun. And
don't be surprised if you discover that, with this software, your computer
really is cool.

A typical on-screen
conversation with Conversation Piece

Every conversation
with this program is delightfully different. Responses depend on the subjects
discussed, and can vary over a wide range of topics. In this typical conversation,
the computer's half of the dialog is shown in bold type.

>I don't know
what to say to a computer.Does
anybody know what to say to a computer?

>Can you understand
me?Does
it surprise you to know that I can understand you?

>I don't believe
this.Don't
change beliefs, transform the believer.*

>That sounds
wise.Do
you really understand?

>I think that
I do.Have
you always known that you do?

>No, but I'm
beginning to get the idea.Every
new venture begins with some confusion.

>Well, this
is something new for me.How
do you feel about that?

>I feel a little
silly.Do
you often feel a little silly?

>I'm afraid
so.Fear
is a disbelief in yourself.*

>How do you
know that?How
do you think?

>Are you smart?Perhaps.
Do you think I'm smart?

>I don't believe
that a computer can actually think.Do
YOU think? How do you know?

>I know what
is real.Are
computers real? Is this conversation real?

>The conversation
is real, but who am I actually talking to? Are
you enjoying your conversation with a computer?

>I think so.A
toad can think. What do YOU think about?

>Sometimes I
think about my future.What
you think determines what exists for you.

>You mean it's
up to me?Your
thoughts create your reality.

>I'm not so
sure about that.There
is no real way to be sure.

>This conversation
is getting weird.So
what if it is or it isn't getting weird?

>Things have
to make sense sooner or later.Just
a moment ago you said something about your future... Is there any connection?

>Do you mean
about making sense and my future?I
don't know.

>That doesn't help much.Are
you helping now? Are you part of the problem?